hogan873

I'm in the camp that thinks the finale was great, and I'm not concerned with unanswered questions about the island. What the ending told me was that the island was real, and it was one mysterious-ass place. How could they explain everything about the island when so much of it was unexplainable? Remember when Ben turned that big wheel and then woke up in a desert!? What about the polar bear? The list could go on and on and on. I'm glad they didn't try to explain a lot of that stuff. And I'm very glad they didn't use the "it was all a dream" or "the island was hell/purgatory" ending. What amazes me is the number of people that thought (and some still think) after the finale that they all died in the crash. The conversation between Jack and his father was the most telling part of the episode. And I could imagine that if a bunch of people were stuck on a mysterious island together, that would be the most important time of their lives.

Happy birthday!

Finally a Super Bowl outside of Florida, California, or a dome. I think this is great, and I hope it opens the door for more cold weather Super Bowls in the future. I was surprised by the amount of people complaining about it, though. And not just the players. I hope it's snowing and 10 degrees. That's football.

QUOTE (Lillian @ May 26, 2010 -> 05:49 AM) To return this thread to its original topic; please add Peavy to the list of players for whom the Sox should be hoping for a suitor. His contract is going to get worse next year, and that $22 million option with a $4 million buyout in 2013 is very problematical. I fear that those who argued that he would not be the same pitcher in the A.L., especially away from Petco Park, were right. The Sox need to decide who the core players are going forward, and shed lot's of salary in order to make room for some significant free agent signings. There are almost no players doing really well in the organization. They are going to have to try to acquire some decent prospects and make a few good draft choices, or this organization won't be competitive for years. Here are my core players going forward: John Danks G. Floyd D. Hudson M. Thornton - I don't know how much it would take to resign him, but a dominating lefty reliever is just too valuable to let get away. Sergio Santos Brent Morel Tyler Flowers Jared Mitchell - A very high ceiling prospect who could become a very good lead off hitter Gordon Beckham - I still think that he will make the necessary adjustments, and become a star. Carlos Quentin - He has too much upside to give up on him. Alex Rios - Finally, a true 5 tool centerfielder, and a contract to keep him here for a while Dayan Viciedo - At his age, he does provide some very promising upside Anyone else should be completely expendable. Needs: 1) A serious left handed hitter should be the number one priority. There is not a single good prospect in the entire organization to fill that role. I'm talking about a high OBP, power bat. 2) At least one more good young starter. Too bad that they had to give up Richard, along with all of the salary that they took on in the Peavy "folly". That's a start. What do you think? I'm starting to feel that the Sox should look to trade Peavy, but I don't see that happening because of his performance so far and his contract. KW won't trade him away for nothing, and I don't see any teams giving much up for him at this point. But, imagine the salary relief! As far as your core player list, I like it. I would like to see, however, more from Quentin before he's considered part of the future. He's a shadow of his 2008 self right now, and I'm wondering if that was all we're gonna see from him.

Go team. A win today would be the first back-to-back series wins of the season. Then, let's go to St. Petersburg and win a third series in a row...then I might be a bit more excited.

QUOTE (WCSox @ May 25, 2010 -> 02:42 PM) Mark is a lot like David Cone and Andy Pettitte: Excellent career, dominant at times, and a major factor in his team winning a championship. Unfortunately, you really need to dominate at a certain point of your career to get into Cooperstown, and Mark hasn't done that. He's thrown some phenomenal individual games, but not for for long enough to be considered a serious Cy Young candidate. All three of those guys will get into their respective team's Hall Of Fame, and deservedly so. But they were simply not the best of the best of their generation. The only way that Mark has a shot is if he pitches into his 40s and amasses 300 wins. But given that he's already publicly mulled early retirement and that he's more erratic and doesn't throw quite as hard as he did five years ago, I don't see more than 250 wins by age 40. Good points. You're absolutely right that he will be part of the Sox HOF, but getting to Cooperstown is a different story. A good example of individual accomplishments not carrying as much weight is looking at how many picthers have thrown a no hitter AND a perfect game in their career. Not many, but that's not going to get you a spot in the HOF on its own.

QUOTE (Jordan4life @ May 25, 2010 -> 12:54 AM) greg, you are indeed my favorite poster. I don't agree with about 87.8% of your opinions. But you speak from the heart. Me likes. You took some time to do some math I see.

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ May 25, 2010 -> 07:44 AM) seeing approximately 12 fans in that stadium last night was pretty sad after remembering that sellout streak in the 90's. Yeah it's a shame. Nice stadium with no one there. They need Charlie Sheen and Wesley Snipes to come back to the team to generate some interest.

QUOTE (WhiteSoxfan1986 @ May 24, 2010 -> 10:36 PM) Another thing I don't understand. In the fist episode of the season, the island was underwater in the alt. How the hell did it get like that? That was in the alternate world, which we learned was their "purgatory". The island did not exist in that world.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ May 24, 2010 -> 05:34 PM) Where is the rule that it is always two bases, and why would that be different than when it is fan interference? MLB official rules: 6.09(e) - (g) (e) A fair ball, after touching the ground, bounds into the stands, or passes through, over or under a fence, or through or under a scoreboard, or through or under shrubbery, or vines on the fence, in which case the batter and the runners shall be entitled to advance two bases; (f) Any fair ball which, either before or after touching the ground, passes through or under a fence, or through or under a scoreboard, or through any opening in the fence or scoreboard, or through or under shrubbery, or vines on the fence, or which sticks in a fence or scoreboard, in which case the batter and the runners shall be entitled to two bases; (g) Any bounding fair ball is deflected by the fielder into the stands, or over or under a fence on fair or foul territory, in which case the batter and all runners shall be entitled to advance two bases;

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news;_ylt=AttY...jp-santos052410 Sergio was one of the quickest conversions from position player to pitcher.

We've been saying for a while now how important these series are. This one is big. The Sox have to go into Cleveland and at a minimum win the series. A sweep would be ideal, of course. The 2 of 3 against Florida was nice, but the big loss yesterday tempered it quite a bit. There's no way the Sox can afford to lose this series...to Cleveland...again.

It seemed to me that Kate must have lived for quite a while after leaving the island, with her telling Jack how much she missed him. It would have been interesting to see who lived for how long, but the added mystery is fine with me.

I thought the finale was great. I had a feeling that the sideways world wasn't real, but I didn't think about it being a sort of purgatory. I'm glad that they didn't try to explain everything about the island. Had they made the island be a dream or purgatory, that would have seemed cheap. Essentially what they said was, the island was real, and everything that happened there was real. Jack's father said it best when he told Jack that the time he spent with all of those people was the most important time of his life. They created that church to meet in the afterlife, and they had to find their way there by happening across each otherin the sideways world. I thought a nice touch was that the "awakenings" only occurred when they encountered those who they had significant interactions with on the island. Sayid with Shannon, Sun with Juliet, Sawyer with Juliet, etc. As far as I'm concerned, the finale was perfect...except that it meant the end of Lost.

Sox take 2 of 3 and give us a flash of hope...

I don't think it takes KW to come out and say that there are tough decisions on the horizon, and coaches may lose their jobs, and players may be traded. We know that. A 16-24 record tells us that. So, I agree with Cowley's frustration and desire to hear KW say those things, but I see your point SS2K5. KW is not going to come out and say that he and Ozzie are at odds and he's extremely disappointed in how things are going. Part of his job is to keep the in-club stuff where it belongs...inside the club. If and when a coach is fired or a player is traded, we will be told.

I told myself last night that I wasn't going to go out of my way to watch another Sox game...but I know I'll give in, grab a beer, sit down, and start swearing.

QUOTE (BigSqwert @ May 19, 2010 -> 09:41 AM) Another solid episode of Justified. This is one of my favorite shows right now. It's so low key but very engaging. Superb dialogue.

It's sad to think that it would take an 8 game winning streak just to get to .500. This team is not capable of an 8 game winning streak. I would say that this is what it must feel like to be a Pirates fan, but at least they knew their team wouldn't compete.

QUOTE (greg775 @ May 20, 2010 -> 11:28 PM) Yeah, but wasn't Pierre ready to scoot home? If it kicks off the wall, it's happy days are here again, baby. Instead, it's eight below .500 and another crappy lost series. For one day...just like every win, it would have been followed up with a loss. You were right about the lack of emotion after losses any more. I just want some changes to be made so that the team will be more exciting to watch if some of the kids are playing.

Tonight should be the start of another one game winning streak!

QUOTE (Thunderbolt @ May 20, 2010 -> 10:56 AM) I think he went after guy like Johnson and Matsui with the idea of bringing back Thome in his back pocket. When that fell through he went to Ozzie, and told him of his intention to go after Thome, Ozze disagreed and talked him out of it. Thus, the birth of the Mark Kotsay-headed monster. Too bad no one told them about birth control.

QUOTE (Thunderbolt @ May 20, 2010 -> 10:49 AM) Nix is the last man off the bench, so no. We have a lot of problems, the root of it is not the guy who lucked into a 25-man roster spot because KW couldn't bring in a big fish. Couldn't or didn't because he believed in the DH plan?

All this losing by the White Sox is turning us against each other. Why can't we all get along!? Let's all have a beer and agree that this season is in trouble.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ May 20, 2010 -> 08:12 AM) That might be one of the smallest sample sizes I have seen used to comment on the value of a six year contract. This.